"A natural airhead?"
Nobody had expected Murasakibara Atsushi to be this kind of person.
How to put it?
That monstrous physique paired with this personality—the contrast was jarring.
Completely different from the other geniuses they'd learned about.
Then they looked at Yuuto.
They couldn't help but swallow hard. He really was like a lion, radiating immense pressure, intimidating just to look at.
The match resumed.
Himuro's team had possession.
Right away, they fed the ball to Murasakibara in the paint.
Iwamura Tsutomu instinctively bodied up against him, but the next second, his expression turned to pure shock.
Murasakibara hadn't budged an inch. Dead-fish eyes looked down at him.
The message was clear: Did you actually put any effort into that?
BOOM!
Spin, rise, slam.
In that moment, the entire basketball hoop shook violently. Terrifying power, making the structure itself seem ready to collapse.
Yet Murasakibara looked like he hadn't even tried.
"This kind of strength..." Kagami was dumbfounded.
This wasn't just the rim—it was the entire structure.
"Kuroko?" They turned to look at him. Besides Yuuto, only Kuroko here truly understood Murasakibara.
"Within the Generation of Miracles, everyone believes Murasakibara-kun's talent might actually be the highest."
The highest?
If they hadn't witnessed Aomine and the others' power firsthand, they might have dismissed this. But they'd seen them play.
A talent that surpassed even those monsters—how terrifying would that be?
"An exceptional physique with athletic ability that completely defies it... Murasakibara-kun was born for basketball."
As he spoke—
Yuuto had already brought the ball to the top of the arc.
Let's test this.
He fixed his gaze on Murasakibara in the paint.
Himuro stood before him, trying to anticipate his next move.
Then—
Whoosh!
The ball vanished from Yuuto's hands without a sound.
So fast! Himuro's heart clenched.
This pass was faster than any player could react to.
From start to finish, he never saw Yuuto's passing motion.
The ball bounced rapidly in front of him, then suddenly disappeared.
"It's Yuuto's No-Motion Pass!"
People exclaimed. No matter how many times they saw it, this pass was absurdly quick.
No visible passing motion—everything completed in an instant.
This was truly compressing a defender's reaction time to the limit.
But—
Iwamura intercepted at the basket and went straight up for the dunk.
They were already familiar with Yuuto's passing style. Their reactions were faster than normal.
Yet just as his slam was about to complete, a massive hand descended from the sky, looming over Iwamura's head.
"Impossible!"
Seihō's former captain stared in disbelief. His teammates' expressions weren't any better.
"That was Yuuto's pass."
Tsugawa Tomoki and the others' faces went pale. Apart from that monster Akashi Seijuro, nobody should be able to react to that pass.
"He didn't read it. It was pure reaction."
Kiyoshi Teppei had a clear view from the sidelines.
Murasakibara had arrived late—he hadn't initially read Yuuto's intent. He'd simply reacted fast enough to complete the turn.
This was challenging the very limits of human reaction!
"That's some reaction time."
Yuuto watched the entire sequence from beyond the arc.
As Kiyoshi said, Murasakibara hadn't read his pass—he'd simply reacted in time.
But—
This wasn't a flaw in his passing. The receiver's tempo was too slow.
In the movie, when Nash used his No-Motion Pass, even if Murasakibara could react, he still couldn't stop it.
Because Jabberwock's other members operated at a faster tempo.
This tempo included jump speed, release speed, timing of shots.
Simply put, Japanese basketball's rhythm was still far slower than American ball.
This wasn't exactly a secret.
Compare any two games from this era, and you'd notice NBA game tempo was on an entirely different level from other leagues.
So what if I compressed Murasakibara's reaction window even further?
Yuuto could still compress the defender's reaction time more.
Through his matchup with Himuro, he'd gained insights.
But then he shook his head.
He could make his passes faster, but doing so would mean not just the opponent couldn't react—his own teammates couldn't either.
...
He'd have to go back and let them adapt before putting it into use.
...
Transition.
Himuro had the ball, intending to feed it inside.
But the next second—
Two crimson rings suddenly filled his entire vision, occupying everything he could see.
Then, these rings began to rapidly contract, shrinking until they disappeared into Yuuto's pupils.
"The Demon Eyes?!" Himuro felt ice run through his veins.
His opponent had finally "opened" those eyes.
"Relax. This is just to remove that unnecessary idea from your head—the one about passing inside." Yuuto meant nothing else by it. He simply didn't want his opponent passing.
...
Himuro still had value. He hadn't been fully mined yet.
"Like I care what you want." Himuro wouldn't comply.
Wasn't this the nature of basketball?
They had a massive advantage inside. Why would they ignore it?
Himuro gripped the ball and faked a pass to one side—but it was a fake.
Mid-motion he pulled back, even fooling his own teammate who'd prepared to catch it. The next second, he hurled the ball hard into the paint.
"You won't rest until you've hit rock bottom." Yuuto's voice was cold.
His eyes erupted with crimson light, the red rings completely engulfing Himuro.
Everything went dark.
The death point symbolizing Himuro bloomed quietly.
The next instant, Yuuto's hand flashed forward at blinding speed.
SLAP!
The ball was stripped clean. Himuro's expression crumbled, mouth falling open in shock. He looked down to see Yuuto's utterly emotionless gaze.
His heart shook violently. Only now did he understand what an incredible feat it was for Akashi to complete passes while facing those eyes.
"Don't do unnecessary things." Yuuto didn't move after the steal. He just stood there, waiting for Himuro to regain possession. Domineering beyond reason.
He has no intention of guarding the passing lanes at all—just like me.
Kagami watched from the sidelines, his expression worried.
Without experiencing it firsthand, you couldn't understand the despair Yuuto inflicted.
Murasakibara's brow had furrowed deeply in the paint.
His Muro-chin was strong, but still not rational enough.
...
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